Tool for lifting or subdividing stacks of sheet material



, p 12, 1967 A. SCHWEBEL' 3,341,032 I TOOL FOR LIFTING OR SUBDIVIDINGSTACKS OF SHEET MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1965 /n ven10/": H004 F fem/E854 Sept. 12, 1967 A. SCHWEBEL 3,341,032

TOOL FOR LIFTING OR SUBDIVIDING STACKS OF SHEET MATERIAL Filed June 8,1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig 5 in; I

lnvenior: A004: ShA/EBFL @Q/ MWMNM United States Patent 3,341,032 TOOLFOR LIFTING 0R SUBDIVIDING STACKS OF SHEET MATERIAL Adolf Schwebel,Offenbach am Main, Germany, assignor to Mabeg Maschineubau G.m.b.H.Nachf. Hense & Pleines G.m.b.H. & C0., Olfenbach am Main, Germany, afirm of Germany Filed June 3, 1965, Ser. No. 460,963 Claims priority,application Germany, July 15, 1964, M 61,736 6 Claims. (Cl. 214-85) Thepresent invention relates to a device or tool for subdividing stacks ofsheet material for use in conjunction with continually operating sheetfeeders for printing presses. The device or tool of the invention isparticularly useful for lifting stacks or facilitating the insertion ofseparation bars as they are customarily inserted in sheet stacks toseparate the sheets required for a printing run.

Modern high speed and high output printing presses and other sheet-usingmachines generally operate with very high sheet stacks. Firms supplyingthe sheet material also prefer to deliver the same in the form of highstacks. It is obviously more convenient and less expensive to ship andstore sheets in the form of comparatively few high stack-s, rather thanin the form of a greater number of low stacks. Such high stacks mustthen be lifted in toto or in part from pallets, and the surfaces of thepallets are often quite rough. The weight of high stacks is very great,and the pressure betweenthe individual sheets forming the stacks iscorrespondingly great. This makes it very difiicult to insert theseparation bars either at the bottom of a stack or into an intermediatepart thereof. Auxiliary devices or tools to facilitate lifting andsubdividing of a stack as heretofore known are not satisfactory.

It is a broad object of the invention to provide a novel and improveddevice or. tool which greatly facilitates the lifting of a stack or theinsertion of separation bars into a stack, irrespective of the heightand the attendant weight of the stack.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel andimproved auxiliary tool or device which not only facilitates the liftingor subdividing of a stack of sheets, but also permits lifting orsubdivision of a stack without damage to the sheets at or immediatelyadjacent to the point of insertion of the tool or device, thus avoidingwaste of material.

The afore-pointed-out objects, features and advantages of the invention,and other objects, features and advantages which will be pointed outhereinafter, are attained by providing on at least one side of agenerally wedge-shaped member one row or several parallel rows of ballsor similarly rollable members movable along an endless groove formed insaid side of the Wedgeshaped member. This groove includes a portionextending substantially lengthwise of the wedge-shaped member, and theballs are guided in this portion so that they protrude from therespective side of the member, whereas they move at or below the levelof said side in the remaining part of the groove. Accordingly, theprotruding balls constitute in elfect a rolling surface between thesheet material and the wedge-shaped member, and such rolling surfacewill obviously greatly facilitate the insertion of the wedge-shapedmember between individual sheets or between the bottom sheet and thesurface of the pallet or other supporting surface. The remaining portionof the groove, in which the balls do not protrude from the surface ofthe wedge-shaped member, serves to return balls continuously to thegroove portion in which the balls protrude from the wedge-shaped member.

In the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment 3,341,032 PatentedSept. 12, 1967 of the invention is shown by way of illustration, and notby way of limitation.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a cross section of a tool or device according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the device or tool;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the entire tool or device;

FIG. 5 is a side view of a stack of sheets showing the insertion of twotools or devices according to the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a front view of the stack according to FIG. 5.

Turning first to FIGS. 1 through 4 in detail, the tool or deviceas'exemplified in these figures comprises a generaly-wedge-shaped member1 made of a suitable rigid material, such as metal, wood or plastic.Member 1 should be comparatively light in weight and be convenient tomanipulate. In at least one side, but preferably in both sides, ofmember 1 an endless groove 2 is provided. The groove preferably has theconfiguration best shown in FIG. 4; that is, it includes two portions 3and 4 extending substantially lengthwise of member 1 and joined at bothends by curved portions. A plurality of rollable elements, such as balls8, are placed in the groovepreferably so many that the groove is nearlyfilled. One

of the two lengthwise portions, such as portion 3, is so placed that itis at or near the highest portion of the wedge-shaped member, and theballs in it are so guided that they protrude slightly above the level ofmember 1. The balls in all other portions of the groove, includingportion 4, are so guided that they are at or just below the level of thegroove. This can be conveniently affected by making the groove portion 3shallower than the remainder of the groove, as is clearly shown in FIG.1.

To facilitate the guidance and retention of the balls in the groove, thelatter may be lined with a tubular liner 7, which may be made of metal,such as steel, or a suitable plastic. The portion of the liner extendingthrough groove portion 3 is then cut open to expose balls 8, as isclearly shown in FIG. 1. The liner can also be formed by coating thewalls of the groove with a suitable layer of metal or plastic.

Instead of providing only one groove in one side or both sides of member1, several grooves substantially filled with balls may be provided ineach side. A second groove including a closed lengthwise portion 5 andan open lengthwise portion 6 is shown. Furthermore, several aligned setsof grooves and balls may be used, as is shown in FIG. 4.

The tool or device according to the invention is used by simply pushingthe same in a conventional manner between the sheets B of a stack S ofsheets, two devices being shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, one at the bottom ofthe stack and the other in an intermediate part of the stack. The stackitself is shown as being placed upon a conventional lifting pallet 9,which does not constitute part of the invention.

As is evident from the foregoing description, the row of protrudingballs 8 constitutes a rolling surface or rolling bearing for the sheetsor other surface in direct engagement with member 1. As a result, thefriction encountered by member 1 when pushed into the stack is greatlyreduced.

The balls may be made of plastic or metal, such as steel, and preferablyhave smooth or polished surfaces.

Extensive tests have shown that the device or tool according to theinvention permits a convenient subdividing or lifting even of very highand correspondingly heavy stacks.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to acertain now preferred example and embodiment of the invention, it willbe understood by those skilled in the art, after understanding theinvention, that various changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it isintended, therefore, to cover all such changes and modifications in theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-contained manual tool for lifting or subdividing stacks ofsheet material, said tool comprising an elongated generally wedge-shapedmember having in one of its sides an endless guide track, and aplurality of rollable antifriction elements fitted in said tracksubstantially filling the same and freely movable along the same, saidtrack including a track portion extending substantially lengthwise ofsaid member, said track portion guiding the antifriction elements partlyprotruding from the general plane of said one side of the member and theremaining portion of the track guiding the antifriction elements belowthe general plane of said side.

2. A self-contanied manual tool for lifting or subdividing stacks ofsheet material, said tool comprising an elongated generally wedge-shapedmember having in one of its sides an endless guide track, and aplurality of rollable antifriction elements fitted in said tracksubstantially filling the same and freely movable along the same, saidtrack including a track portion shallower than the remaining part of thetrack, said shallow track portion extending generally lengthwise of saidmember and guiding the rollable elements in positions partly protrudingfrom the general plane of said one side of the member and the remainingportion of the track guiding the elements below the general plane ofsaid side.

3. A self-contained manual tool for lifting and subdividing stackedsheet material, said tool comprising an elongated generally wedge-shapedmember, a tubular endless guide means inserted in one side of said wedgemember, said tubular means including a portion extending generallylengthwise of said wedge member and being open in the peripheral outlineof said wedge member, and a plurality of rollable elements inserted intosaid tubular guide means substantially filling the same and movablealong the same, said open guide means portion lifting elements thereinpartly above the peripheral outline of said wedge-shaped member, theremaining portion of said guide means constituting a'return path for theelements passing said open portion of the guide means, said return pathguiding the rollable elements within the peripheral outline of saidwedge member.

4. A tool according to claim 3, wherein said guide means comprises anendless tube embedded in said Wedgeshaped member and being lengthwiseslotted along said open portion of the guide means, said open portionbeing located in substantially the thickest portion of the guide means.

5. A self-contained manual tool for lifting or subdividing stacks ofsheet material, said tool comprising an elongated generally wedge-shapedmember insertable into a stack at an arbitrarily selected portionthereof, said stack having in at least one of its sides an outer endlessguide track and an inner endless guide track encompassed by the outertrack, and a plurality of rollable anti-friction elements fitted in saidtracks freely rollable along the same, each of said tracks including atrack portion extending substantially lengthwise of said member, saidlengthwise track portions being mutually parallel and guiding a row ofsaid anti-friction elements partly protruding from the general plane ofsaid one side of the member, the remaining portions of each trackguiding the anti-friction elements below the general plane of said oneside.

6. A self-contained manual tool according to claim 5, wherein each ofsaid tracks comprises two mutually parallel straight track portionsextending substantially lengthwise of said member and curved trackportions joining said straight track portions, a row of said rollableelements being guided in one straight track portion of each track abovethe general plane of said member and in the other below said generalplane, one straight track portion of each track guiding the rollableelements above the general plane of the member being disposed closelyadjacent to the straight track portion of the other track guiding therollable elements below said plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 640,397 1/ 1900 Merker. 2,854,1509/1958 Shea 214-1 3,209,924 10/1965 Hawkes 214- HUGO O. SCHULZ, PrimaryExaminer.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Examiner.

1. A SELF-CONTAINED MANUAL TOOL FOR LIFTING OR SUBDIVIDING STACKS OFSHEET MATERIAL, SAID TOOL COMPRISING AN ELONGATED GENERALLY WEDGE-SHAPEDMEMBER HAVING IN ONE OF ITS SIDES AN ENDLESS GUIDE TRACK, AND APLURALITY OF ROLLABLE ANTIFRICTION ELEMENTS FITTED IN SAID TRACKSUSBTANTIALLY FILLING THE SAME AND FREELY MOVABLE ALONG THE SAME, SAIDTRACK INCLUDING A TRACK PORTION EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY LENGTHWISE OFSAID MEMBER, SAID TRACK PORTION GUIDING THE ANTIFRICTION ELEMENTS PARTLYPROTRUDING FROM THE GENERAL PLANE OF SAID ONE SIDE OF THE MEMBER AND THEREMAINING PORTION OF THE TRACK GUIDING THE ANTIFRICTION ELEMENTS BELOWTHE GENERAL PLANE OF SAID SIDE.